As said in my original post, I am not looking for a new way to find the satellites. There must be a hundred ways to do it. I like the process I have been using and am not trying to convince any of you to do it my way.
My favorite campsite in my favorite campground, for example, requires that the dish is about 85 feet from my electrical bay, where my PI and splitter are located. I have a 7", battery operated tv but to take it to the dish location I would need a receiver, 85 feet of power cable, another 85 feet of coax and an a/v cable to attach the tv. Then I would need a wagon to carry all this stuff plus the Slimline and tripod.
This, of course, is a worst case scenario, but I am a big fan of wooded campgrounds and frequently have to search a wide area for an open view of the 99/101/103 satellites.
Just as an update to the original post: I was able to find a like new, self powered, Acutrac III that works like a charm. Purchased on EBay for under $50, even with a good set of rechargeable batteries. All I take to the setup site is the dish, tripod, legacy slimline 3 LNB (the meter doesn't work with a SWM), my SWM Slimline 3 LNB and a compass. Once the dish is aligned I go and run my coax from the PI to the dish. Pretty quick, when you get used to the process.
I am happy with this setup after trying many of your suggested methods, in the past. Yes, including the baby monitor.
